this is the john glenn. it is the biggest boat in that fleet and is still used to patrol but given all the potential threats to homeland security, there are questions about how effective the boat could be. that's because it's out there on the water but its communication system is broken and the radio can't even transmit a distress call. and the documentation has also expired. >> part of the communication system doesn't work. they're using an older -- a much older system to communicate with one another. it appears the certification for the boat that should have been applied for back in august, the date was missed. >> reporter: so now the question is whether to apply for grants or repair the boat t. could cost as much as $700,000. the other option is to lobby capitol hill to see if they can get some money to potentially get a state of the art boat. those are the two options. we'll have to see which direction they take. coming up at 6:30, we talked about how there are potential cuts in other areas, essentially